Nurburging round three

[smellthebeans]

Kobe

Your car does not have a DISA valve (unless its SULEV). Look at the intake manifold just above the throttle body you will see two black cords/lines that terminate into a plastic fixture. Essentially the plug into nothing. These are what on a 3 stage intake plug into the DISAs and send instructions (current) to open and close as engine speed varies. This takes advantage of a resonance effect caused by the intake valves opening and closing (Porsche uses a similar system on the Boxer and on the naturally aspirated V8).

So in a US SPEC car with the N52 engine you need two things. 1. The 3 stage intake. 2. A tune that will adjust the lift and duration on the intake valve side to coincide with the resonance point on the variable length intake.

In Europe the 125i is unique in that it already as a 3 stage intake and only needs a simple tune to match up the valve lift and duration with the resonance effect of the manifold.

[kobeballer96]

Originally Posted by smellthebeans

Kobe

Your car does not have a DISA valve (unless its SULEV). Look at the intake manifold just above the throttle body you will see two black cords/lines that terminate into a plastic fixture. Essentially the plug into nothing. These are what on a 3 stage intake plug into the DISAs and send instructions (current) to open and close as engine speed varies. This takes advantage of a resonance effect caused by the intake valves opening and closing (Porsche uses a similar system on the Boxer and on the naturally aspirated V8).

So in a US SPEC car with the N52 engine you need two things. 1. The 3 stage intake. 2. A tune that will adjust the lift and duration on the intake valve side to coincide with the resonance point on the variable length intake.

In Europe the 125i is unique in that it already as a 3 stage intake and only needs a simple tune to match up the valve lift and duration with the resonance effect of the manifold.

exactly. I was aware of this situation and have already been look at the yard for a car to come in with one so I can put it on my car. I dont want to buy the kit online that costs so much more money.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by kobeballer96

Evolve, but thats from the UK. i have a us spec 128i and havent really found any bmw shops around sadly that do 128is. as for everything else im going to a friends shop and getting a custom straight pipe made to bolt up to the supersprint headers when i get them!

Evolve doesn't need to be there to tune, so I wouldn't worry about them being in England.

I would save the money and skip the straight pipe. You will end up with a pretty brutal metallic sound, encourage corrosion, and likely won't see much in the way of gains unless you sacrifice all low end power. "Custom" exhaust shop work always translates into garbage.

DISA valves should be pretty easy to find as you are euro local and every nearly every N52 there has them.

[Dafttt]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

DISA valves should be pretty easy to find as you are euro local and every nearly every N52 there has them.

Agreed.

It's like searching for LS parts in America.

You don't even have to bother searching online, just look for a shop with with wrecked e90's out front. I bet it won't take long. Bring a friend if there's any language barriers.

You'll save yourself ~$500USD.

[631twentyeighteye]

Ship me one over too if you can. I'll pay all shipping costs and toss some money your way. haha.

[smellthebeans]

I shopped several junkyards in the Stuttgart area looking for the 3 stage intake. Not every N52 has one here. They also have the *25 series which in the E60 & E90 generations did not have the same intake.

I eventally found one on Ebay UK of all places. I think I paid about 265 USD for it shipped to my door in Germany. This one included both the DISA actuators so that along with some new gaskets from the dealer (in stock i might add) have thus far made the process pretty easy.

I have gone with Active Autowerke for my tune

here is what their software/tuner said about their tune.

You can flash the car at any time. The changes are fairly subtle and these new age cars have extremely fast and intelligent ECUs.

Your car features Valvetronic, which is infinitely variable valve lift from 0-10mm of opening. From the factory the car does not make use of the 10mm and is capped at 9.7. I also opened it up quite a bit in the midrange for everyday driving gains and response. The cam timing I did on the dyno is only slightly different than stock but made a fairly pronounced difference in how the car reacted to the multi-stage manifold. Stock the changeover is quite pronounced and with the changed VANOS things change a bit smoother.

[jb2178]

That is maybe my favorite photo of a 1 series ever.

And if you don't post anymore of these TheSt|g will hunt you down.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by jb2178

That is maybe my favorite photo of a 1 series ever.

And if you don't post anymore of these TheSt|g will hunt you down.

My other hobby is long range shooting.

[andrey_gta]

Originally Posted by kobeballer96

^^ yes! this I will do. but if someone else gets to it first it will be nice too find out before I come back next year. im prepping the car to sit for 9 months in storage. lol the car is a 09 and I only have 19k miles

Looking at dyno's germans offer 10 more hp and im sure somethign similar to torque, probably because of fuel. A recent MS tuning dyno surfaced in last pages of this: http://www.1erforum.de/umbauten/bmw-...er-135363.html
Offering a 46 hp increase based on wheel horsepower ( i used PS and converted it to horsepower).

Originally Posted by smellthebeans

So in a US SPEC car with the N52 engine you need two things. 1. The 3 stage intake. 2. A tune

May I add #3. A Euro box sourced cheaply.
A euro performance box snorkeler, lid & filter package is the cherry on top part # 13720444748. 1er forum.de memebers get discounts from http://www.leebmann24.de/ and that website on its own offers the best price for the kit and even blacklines.

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Evolve doesn't need to be there to tune, so I wouldn't worry about them being in England.
I would save the money and skip the straight pipe.

I agree, the tune is the big Whale for us. Do it right, exhaust and other fun stuff will come later. The only exception is if you decide on headers.

Originally Posted by smellthebeans

I shopped several junkyards in the Stuttgart area looking for the 3 stage intake. Not every N52 has one here. They also have the *25 series which in the E60 & E90 generations did not have the same intake.

I eventally found one on Ebay UK of all places. I think I paid about 265 USD for it shipped to my door in Germany.
...
Your car features Valvetronic, which is infinitely variable valve lift from 0-10mm of opening. From the factory the car does not make use of the 10mm and is capped at 9.7. I also opened it up quite a bit in the midrange for everyday driving gains and response. The cam timing I did on the dyno is only slightly different than stock but made a fairly pronounced difference in how the car reacted to the multi-stage manifold. Stock the changeover is quite pronounced and with the changed VANOS things change a bit smoother.

He can source one from http://en.bildelsbasen.se/
Im sure shipping is cheaper than to USA, and ive seen Manifolds there and I sourced my eurobox from a yard on there.

Nice write up about the tune changes

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by andrey_gta

May I add #3. A Euro box sourced cheaply.
A euro performance box snorkeler, lid & filter package is the cherry on top part # 13720444748. 1er forum.de memebers get discounts from http://www.leebmann24.de/ and that website on its own offers the best price for the kit and even blacklines.

As someone who has done the euro box in the best possible way, meh. Certainly not much in the way of power there. The sound is quite nice, but I wouldn't worry about it in terms of tuning and such.

Don't get me wrong, I would do it again in a heartbeat for the easy filter and CF sound, but from a power perspective it is pretty pointless.

[andrey_gta]

intakes don't seem to do alot for the cars. They mostly add torque and help car breathe easier, that is what I noticed on eurobox.

I certainly like the ease of access too and think that the eurobox can be had for cheaper than Afe closed box

[smellthebeans]

Just my opinion not much to be gained with Power of a CAI. However, I did notice a slight increase in highway milage on my old 330i. I also loved the way it made the engine sound.

Saturday is the big day. I'll be Installing the 3 stage intake manifold & AA Stage II tune. Looking forward to getting back to my 330i levels.

For what its worth I also owned a 128i 6MT before my current E92. This would make the little 128i a wickedly quick car in my opinion.

[Dafttt]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

My other hobby is long range shooting.

Nice try, obviously this isn't you.
Everyone knows the Stig doesn't actually have a face.

But seriously, don't you need good visuals for long range shooting?
How do you see through your helmet visor?

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by Daft Auto

Nice try, obviously this isn't you.
Everyone knows the Stig doesn't actually have a face.

But seriously, don't you need good visuals for long range shooting?
How do you see through your helmet visor?

I have my visor on you.

[Dafttt]